Following a forced break because of the abandonment of the third One-Day International (ODI) at Visakhapatnam courtesy cyclone ‘Hudhud’, the Indian cricket team will aim to take an unassailable 2-1 lead against the West Indies in the fourth ODI of the five-match series at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium here (HPCA) Friday.
The visiting Windies team began with a bang, inflicting a 124-run defeat on India in Kochi but the home team swung the momentum in their favour in the second ODI at New Delhi, with a 48-run win.
Both the teams will look to seize the initiative before the final ODI in Kolkata Oct 20.
For India, the form of their spinners was crucial in their series-squaring win at Ferozeshah Kotla and once again their impact on the seamer-friendly pitch here could prove to be the key in deciding the outcome of the match.
HPCA track is considered to be fast and bouncy with the spinners getting little purchase from the pitch.
The stadium, located here with the Dhauladhar mountain range in the backdrop, assists seamers with initial movement and the Indian batsmen, not all in the best of forms, will be faced with the challenge of facing a decent Windies bowing attack with the likes of Ravi Rampaul, Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach on a lively surface.
The home team will have bitter memories of batting here the last time around against England in January 2013, losing half the side for 79 runs and eventually losing the match by seven wickets.
With the third ODI getting abandoned, the fourth match assumes even greater importance as whoever wins it will get a psychological boost, secure with the knowledge of avoiding a series loss.
The teams chose to stay put in New Delhi following the cancellation of the third game and arrived here only on the eve of the match.
India will draw comfort from the fact that their star batsman Virat Kohli, after a prolonged loss of form, was among runs, scoring a gritty 62 at Kotla. He was demoted to the No.4 spot in the second ODI by the team think-tank and the move worked.
Chief curator Of HPCA Sunil Chauhan has said that the wicket will assist the fast bowlers and India may consider fielding pacer Ishant Sharma in place of leg spinner Amit Mishra for a four-man pace attack.
For India, seamer Mohammed Shami has impressed claiming eight wickets from two games, emerging as the highest wicket-taker in the series and they face a daunting task of containing the in-form Windies batsman, particularly Dwayne Smith and Marlon Samuels, who single-handedly won the visitors the first game, hitting a cracking century.
Young Indian left-arm spinners Akshar Patel and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, though included in the squad for the two remaining ODIs, are unlikely to make it to the playing 11.
